Author's Note:

I have a few ideas of where this is going but sometimes putting my thoughts into words are not always the same thing. Anyway, the big scary chapter is over and I hope not too many of you are holding a grudge against me after the spanking incident. I hope you will continue to read and enjoy my story because I have so much more to tell.

Also, this is the definitely the most awesome fort ever and I want it for myself LOL.

Reviews and Comments: To E-Dett: Thank you! I was trying to show Sirius' struggle in learning how to discipline Harry and show how Harry is testing boundaries. Thank you for saying I did a great job. To gabbywatts017: Thank you for saying you've fallen in love with this story. Yes, Harry will be as close to Ginny as he is to Ron and Hermione, maybe more so. No, they will not be joining Harry at the Quidditch match. To darkhk: Thank you! I want to show how despite Harry growing into a happy and healthy home, his trauma is still there. I agree, we do just get better at handling it, but it doesn't necessarily go away. Thank you! To coloredwords: You're welcome for the influx of chapters. I don't have a beta to stop me lol. Sirius is definitely such a horn dog and yes, he will miss her, but he's not looking for anything serious right now. I'm glad you're enjoying the friendship.

To jadely31: Thank you! Sirius is a pushover. Definitely. The story will move forward, albeit slowly, but it will. To The Go1den Snitch: Thank you! I am trying hard to show the relationships between Sirius, Remus, and Harry as well as showing McGonagall bonding with Harry and her mother/son relationship with Sirius. Thanks for reading and reviewing. To littlehughesy: Thank you for the slow clap! I am incredibly honoured that my chapter caused you to eat your own words. Thank you so much for seeing and understanding exactly what I was trying to articulate, that Sirius is safe and Harry knows this. He knows and understands that Sirius would never intentionally hurt him. I wanted to show how much Harry has come to love and depend on Sirius and how resilient kids are. He sees the difference between how the Dursleys treated him and how Sirius treats him and he knows that Sirius punishing him was not even remotely the same as anything the Dursleys ever did to him. There's punishment and there's "punishment" and Harry fully understands and comprehends the difference. Never apologize for a super long review, I am honoured by people who take the time to leave me one. Thank you so much for saying you think I am "an intellectual, provoking, and engaging writer." You're too kind! To Claire Fraser: Thank you! I agree, Harry does know the difference and Sirius did need to tackle one of those difficult parent moments. I think he handled himself pretty well.

Thank you very much for reading and please, please review!

Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you!

CHAPTER THIRTY:

The One With the House Rules and Where Sirius and Ted Build A Treehouse

Harry woke up an hour later snuggled into Sirius' arms and the cushions of the couch. Sirius was sleeping next to him, his own face scrunched into the pillow. Harry stayed where he was for a moment, listening to the steady heartbeat under his ear and grinning when he realized that Marauder was asleep on Sirius' legs. He stretched and sat up, causing Sirius to stir, eyes opening as they found Harry's.

"Hi, Prongslet," he said, sitting up, wincing as he carefully tugged his legs out from Marauder. "Are you okay?"

Harry rubbed his tired eyes and smiled in appreciation when Sirius passed him his glasses. "I'm hungry."

Sirius kissed Harry's forehead. "Me too. Let's go find a snack."

Harry followed him into the kitchen and Sirius watched him carefully, but he seemed to have forgotten all about the spanking incident from earlier. The guilt swirling in his stomach over it made him anxious.

"Harry, we need to talk about what happened earlier," Sirius began carefully, unsure of how exactly to broach the subject now that he was no longer panicked at the thought of his godson taking off and getting abducted in some way.

Harry opened the ice box and helped himself to an apple, crunching into it as he looked at Sirius. "Okay."

Sirius took an apple out of the fridge too and gestured for Harry to sit at the kitchen table with him. "Do you know why I was upset with you, Harry?"

Harry nodded, his green eyes staring at Sirius. "'Cause I chased Marauder."

"Yes, but not because you chased him, I get that - you were worried that he would get lost or get hurt - but that's how I felt about you," Sirius explained. "I thought that you would be hurt or get lost or that something terrible was going to happen to you. I was so scared, Prongslet."

"You were scared? But you're a grown up!"

Sirius smiled. "Grown-ups get scared too."

Harry stared at him. "I'm sorry that I scared you, Uncle Siri."

Sirius moved around the table and knelt down in front of his godson. "I'm sorry too, Harry. I promised that I would never hurt you. And I made you cry. I guess we both have to figure some things out between us, don't we?"

Harry jumped down off the chair and put his arms around Sirius. "I'm sorry I made you cry. I know you didn't mean it."

Sirius hugged him tight, kissing his hair. "Prongslet, I know that I said no rules when you first came to live with me, but there is going to have to be some rules. Rules to keep you safe and rules to make sure that something like that never happens again."

Harry nodded, his eyes suddenly going wide and fearful. "Are you going to send me away?"

"NO!" Sirius exclaimed, hugging the child tighter. "Absolutely never!"

"Promise?" he asked, his voice tearful and unsure.

"I promise." He kissed his cheeks, kissing the tears away and kissed the tip of his nose making Harry giggle. "Why don't we make some rules up together, hmm? What's the first rule already according to Uncle Moony?"

Harry smiled up at him. "No bad words!"

"That's right," Sirius said with a grin. He summoned the chalkboard and chalk from the classroom to him and wrote the first rule across the top. "How about we stop saying no to vegetables?"

Harry's scrunched his nose up. "Do we have to?"

Sirius grinned and scribbled a second rule on the board. "No dessert without veggies first including ghost broccoli," he added, making Harry grin.

"Okay," he sighed.

Twenty minutes later, Sirius and Harry had come up with a list of rules together to follow. Sirius was quite pleased with them and he felt that Harry was too. He charmed the empty wall by the kitchen to be a chalkboard and carefully inserted the rules there as follows; rearranging them in order of importance:

Our Family Rules:

1. We are a family and we will love and respect each other.

2. Uncle Padfoot and Uncle Moony are in charge. Period.

3. No swearing.

4. No dessert if you don't eat your vegetables — even Uncle Padfoot and Uncle Moony.

5. If you feel sad or mad, tell someone. We will always listen to each other.

6. Don't talk back.

7. Clean up after yourself.

8. Always keep your promises.

9. Always tell the truth.

10. Never be afraid to ask for help.

Consequences of Not Following Our Family Rules:

1-2-3 ~ Warning

4 ~ Time-Out.

5 ~ Loss of Privileges

6 ~ Grounded.

Harry smiled up at the post. He thought that it was perfect. "Do you think Uncle Moony will like it?"

Sirius grinned at the list that they had made. "I think he'll love it." He kissed Harry's cheek and carefully sealed the rules into place. "Now, why don't you pick an album to play while we get started on dinner? According to our calendar, tonight is meatloaf and mashed potatoes."

Harry grinned and hurried over to the shelf full of records and Sirius watched him with a smile. Yeah, they were going to be just fine.

~ ASC ~

Remus did indeed approve of the rule list after Sirius had told him about the events that had transpired the day before. Remus had sympathized with his friend greatly. He knew that Sirius had taken his action even more to heart because of his own upbringing and how determined his friend was to never be like his parents. Knowing Sirius, the guilt had probably eaten at him for longer than he was willing to admit.

It probably still was.

Remus especially loved that Sirius and Harry had made the list of house rules together. He found it responsible and important because now Harry understood what the rules were and what the punishments would be if he did something wrong.

Sirius spent the next morning working out the final kinks of his design on the massive treehouse fort that he wanted to build for Harry. Ted came over to help him get started on it in the morning and he spent his afternoon with Castellanos.

As Sirius lay in bed with Althea, he told her all about the events that had transpired the day before as he gently danced his fingertips along her naked hip.

"Sounds like you both had a rough day," she told him, smiling sympathetically. "But the rules are wonderful, Sirius. And you wrote them together and that makes it better. They were from the heart."

He smiled at her, his fingertips moving up her side, along her ribcage and circling a nipple. "It was a really long day, let's just say that."

She smiled, leaning in to kiss his cheek. "You're adorable."

He grimaced slightly. "Adorable?"

Althea grinned. "You're a wonderful father, Sirius. Harry is lucky to have you."

"Thanks," he said as he cupped her breast in his hand. "Ted and I started on the treehouse fort this morning too."

"Really?" she said in surprise. "I kind of thought you had forgotten about it."

"Nah, it just kind of got put on hold," he admitted. "I really need Ted's help. He's great with his hands. He knows how to build things and he's a great teacher. I did a little work when I was young, helping my uncle out with James' help doing some household repairs, but I've never built anything like this by hand before. And when I'm done, it's going to be massive."

She chuckled as the back of his knuckles gently stroked her stomach. "How long do you think it's going to take?"

"Ted says a month, but I told him that I think we can do it in two weeks. If we work every day, all day — I can't see why not."

"Then what are you doing here, Sirius?" she asked him, her lips brushing his earlobe.

His breath hitched slightly when she sucked his lobe into her mouth. "Much needed sex break on Monday afternoons; it's in the rulebook."

Althea chuckled against him, making him smile. "Oh, of course."

Sirius pinned her under him, planting soft kisses on her throat. "I'm really going to miss you, Castellanos. I'm going to miss talking to you and this whole friends with benefits thing."

She smiled against his mouth when he kissed her. "Friends with benefits, is that what we are?"

Sirius grinned, bending his head to lick her breast, his tongue swirling across her nipple. "Mmm, yup." He kissed his way down her stomach, stopping at her belly button as she sighed in pleasure and worked his way back up to her mouth.

"Sirius," she moaned, her fingers gripping his hair.

Sirius kissed her cheek, her ear, her throat - and when she trembled beneath him, he simply spoke against her skin enticing gooseflesh to ripple across. "What do you want me to do to you?"

Her eyes met his and she smiled seductively. "I want you to fuck me hard and deep," she told him.

"How?" he asked her as she reached between them to stroke him.

Her strokes became bolder and he groaned, his cock growing under her ministrations.

"However you want me," she told him, her eyes twinkling.

Sirius groaned and rolled her over on top of him, sitting up against the headboard. He positioned her over him and when she lowered herself onto him he groaned in pleasure. He did what she asked. He gave it to her hard and deep; moving his hips upward, pinning her beneath him and taking her harder and eventually rolling her onto her side to take her from behind while she gasped and cried out his name.

Afterwards they both lay there, half-sleeping, until they heard the door to her flat open.

"Shit, if Priya's here — I'm late," Sirius muttered, jumping to his feet and searching for his jeans.

Althea stretched in her bed, smiling at him as she watched him try to find his clothes. "If you're already late," she said, sliding a hand down her stomach and between her legs. "Come back and join me."

Sirius watched her for a moment and then shook his head. "Can't. I promised Harry I'd be home for dinner," he leaned across the bed and kissed her softly, reaching his own hand between her legs to stroke her and she groaned. "But I can spare a few extra minutes to finish you off."

He'd taken an extra thirty.

But he was only twenty minutes late he told himself as he hurried into the house after Apparating home.

Remus' merely raised his eyebrow at him as he stuck his head out of the kitchen. "Running a tad behind, are we?"

"Sorry, Rem," he said tossing his leather jacket on the coat rack by the door.

Remus grinned at him. "It's fine. Harry's playing with Marauder in the back, I was just heating up the meatloaf from last night."

Sirius nodded and followed his friend into the kitchen. "Thanks. I am sorry I'm late. I got distracted."

"I bet you did," he said with a smirk. He nodded towards the new addition on the kitchen wall. "I really like this idea, Sirius."

Sirius grinned as he poured himself a glass of water and drank deeply. "Me too. I think it's a great thing for the three of us to have, you know?"

Remus smiled. "I think that you sometimes forget that I don't live here, Padfoot."

Sirius shrugged. "No, you living here doesn't matter, Rem. You are basically his parent in my eyes and you know it. All rules apply. That's why your name is on that wall too."

"Thank you for that," he said. "I know I am." He nodded towards the yard. "How did the tree house fort discussion go with Ted this morning?"

"Great," he told him with a smile. "We got some of the wood cut and organized and tomorrow he'll be here for eight so we can get started. I showed you the final design, right?"

Remus nodded. He had to admit that if Sirius and Ted were actually able to pull off this massive treehouse fort that they were planning to build for Harry, he would be quite impressed. "Ted's coming by every day?"

"Yeah, he's laid off for a month so he's willing to help. Something about an internal issue within the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects Office, apparently they are re-working the whole department one squad at a time and Ted agreed to take his holiday time now until they sort it out. He said he hates the politics of it and doesn't want to be involved, which works great for me since now he's available to help. I want to have it done before the next full moon."

"Why?"

"It's a good goal, I think," he said with a smile. "Plus, once it's done I can focus on getting the potion from Snape and we can see how this works for you. The cellar at your place for one. It might not be the place you want to stay anymore if it really makes you feel like you."

"Sirius, you can't stay with me," Remus told him, glancing out the window to check on Harry. "We have Harry to worry about."

"Moony, I told you, I got this. And you're not spending another full moon alone. I'm going to talk to Andy and Ted about maybe staying here with Harry. He's starting to be more comfortable with them because of Tonks." He opened the back door and yelled for Harry to come in for dinner. "Now stop worrying."

Remus merely sighed. Like that was going to stop him.

~ ASC ~

Sirius spent the next morning in the backyard finally beginning to construct the tree house fort. He had finally perfected the design and was ready to get started. There were three huge oak trees at the back of the yard and Ted had agreed with Sirius that they were the best spot for his idea and Sirius planned on connecting his tree house fort through all three massive trees.

Sirius wanted to build the biggest and coolest treehouse fort that he could and he wanted it to be a surprise. He implemented privacy charms around his work area so that he could keep it a secret from Harry and he got to work. He and Ted worked on it almost seven days a week, but they did take a break that first Saturday afternoon so that Sirius could bring Harry to the Quidditch match with the tickets from McGonagall.

Harry had been absolutely amazed.

His eyes had followed the players around the field in awe. He stood up in his seat, eyes wide and mouth slightly open almost the entire time and when a team cheered, he would shriek in delight, not caring which side had made the winning goal. Sirius carefully explained the rules of the game to him, but he had picked up on how Quidditch was played already at the Weasleys from watching the older Weasley boys play the game in the orchard.

When the Appleby Arrows Seeker Henderson snagged the Golden Snitch and won the game, Harry cheered in excitement. Sirius even snapped a few photos of Harry at the game, delighting in his childhood excitement. After the game, Sirius and Harry went to a pub for dinner and Sirius told Harry that he had to thank Auntie Minnie for the tickets to the Quidditch game.

Harry decided to draw her a picture. Using his crayons and a large piece of parchment, Harry had finished his work that night. He had drawn figures flying on brooms with he and Sirius cheering from the sidelines. He wrote in large block letters across the top — Thank You, Auntie Minnie! Appleby Won! Love, Harry.

Sirius thought it was adorable and he had Harry fold it into an envelope and tie it to Persephone's leg. He knew that McGonagall would love it.

As Harry was busy with his learning from Remus, Sirius continued to meet with Ted on building the treehouse fort. Andromeda would occasionally stop by and sneak a look at their progress; sometimes bringing a picnic lunch over for Harry and Remus to join them. Harry loved when Andromeda brought a picnic as it meant Tonks came for lunch as well. By the end of two and a half solid weeks, the treehouse was finished thanks to good weather and a lot of help from Ted Tonks.

Sirius had to admit, it was the coolest thing that he had ever seen, and he was incredibly impressed with himself for building and designing it. He and Ted had cut all of the wood by hand and used a combination of magic and woodworking skills to put it together. Not only did it look awesome, but it was safe. There were railings everywhere so that no one could fall off and the trees were so huge and sturdy. Sirius had even added glass to the windows in the treehouse that could be opened and closed so that Harry could access the inside in the winter time if he wanted to.

Ted wiped sweat off of his brow that Saturday morning as he looked up at the treehouse fort that they had built. "I have to say, we did damn fine work, Sirius."

Sirius grinned at him. "All thanks to you. You really are great with woodworking."

Ted smiled. "Worked in construction every summer. Muggleborn, remember?"

"Well, it paid off. I never could have built this without your help."

Ted grinned, grabbing his water and drinking. "I'll take the credit. I'm damn proud of this fort. A little bit of magic and a lot of blood, sweat, and carpentry. Hell, I want to play in it."

"Tell me about it," Sirius said with a grin. "I can't wait to give it to Harry. We can camp out in it the first night."

"The windows are a nice touch. Keeps one safe from all sorts of weather," he added, looking up at the fort. "Everything is in place. The nets are safe and he can run across this obstacle course as much as he wants. It was smart to make it at least ten feet above the ground."

Sirius nodded. "Well, I figure ten feet above the ground, then another eight feet per level — it's basically a three story floating house. Plus, I want him to be able to use it as he gets older. Even if he grows to be as tall as Rem he can still come out and do the obstacle course and have fun."

"He's going to love it, Sirius. It looks amazing."

"Want to stick around for when I show it to him?"

Ted grinned. "I'd love too, but Dromeda's expecting me. I promised I'd take her out somewhere tonight. I've been so busy helping you lately that I owe her a date night. I need to head home and shower. Dora is going to be so jealous of this when she sees it. I sent her a copy of the design in my last letter. She wrote that it was going to be wicked when it was done and I think she was right. That is totally amazing."

Sirius nodded. "Damn straight! Thanks again though, for all of your help."

"Of course, it was my pleasure. Not exactly how I expected to spend my time off, but well worth it, I'd say."

"Definitely."

Sirius said goodbye to Ted and hurried out to grab his last minute add ons for inside the tree house. He'd bought blankets, sheets, and pillows for the beds and the hammock and he used his fairy light charm to illuminate the ceiling. He set the charm to come up as soon as the sun set. He made up the two bunkbeds, added the throw pillows to the hammock and found some beanbag chairs for the extra space. He filled the icebox up with water, pumpkin juice, and fruit punch. Then he simply grinned.

It was one hell of a treehouse kingdom.

He whistled as he made his way into the house just as Harry came home with Remus from their monthly trip to the library. Sirius ushered Harry upstairs to clean up and he grinned broadly at Remus.

"It's done."

"Really?" Remus asked, grinning at his friend's excitement. "And it looks as grand as you hoped?"

"Moony, it looks so much fucking better! I want to live in this thing!"

Remus laughed. He had taken a few peeks at the treehouse the few nights he had stayed past Harry's bedtime, but the work-in-progress hadn't told him much. But if Sirius had succeeded with even half of what the sketches looked like, Remus knew that the treehouse was going to be pretty great.

"Are you going to show it to him tonight?"

Sirius nodded. "I was thinking about right now. I thought we could camp out in it tonight. What do you say, Moony, you interested?"

Remus grinned. "Wouldn't turn it down, especially with tomorrow being the seventeenth."

Sirius smiled. "Then you definitely have to stay."

Harry hurried back down the stairs and picked up his bag of new books. "Uncle Padfoot, want to see what Uncle Moony and I got at the library?"

"I'd love too, Prongslet, but I have something to show you first."

"What?" Harry asked, looking up at Sirius' smiling face and grinning back.

"Well, Ted and I have been building a surprise for you in the back garden the last few weeks. I wanted to have it ready for your birthday, but we didn't get it started in time."

Harry followed Sirius into the back garden and looked around eagerly. "What are you building?"

Sirius led him across the grass on his shoulders, smiling when he felt the privacy wards. "Are you ready, Prongslet?"

Harry nodded eagerly, his hands resting in Sirius' hair as he looked out at the seemingly empty space in front of the woods in bewilderment and then Sirius lifted the privacy charm hiding the tree house.

Harry's eyes widened into saucers and his jaw dropped as he looked at the massive fort before him.

The tree house was definitely the biggest and the coolest that Sirius could possibly make. It was more like a mini kingdom expanding the length of three huge oak trees across the back and had multiple levels from which to explore.

The tree on the left had a ten foot high rock climbing wall that once was climbed over led to a large porch balcony overlooking the garden. The balcony led to the tree house itself, which was three levels with a fireman's pole in the middle of the room up to the second level. On the first floor of the house, he had built a bookshelf into one wall and inserted a hammock on the other side. A set of bunkbeds on one side; lanterns set about for light plus the fairy lights. He used military camouflage netting as decoration on the walls. The second floor had a large treasure chest for Harry to fill up with whatever he wanted, an entire chalkboard wall to draw and write on, and a chess table. There were windows on every side and a wooden sliding ladder to get to the third floor, which was a loft with a small railing to climb over.

The large porch balcony had a spiral staircase leading up to a second level that was a pirate ship and down to the ground for easy access. The pirate ship level had its own crow's nest with a wooden pirate ship steering wheel and a telescope, a large canon that would fire water balloons, and a huge mast that could be clipped into place as a tarp in the rain.

Next to the treehouse, the balcony wrapped around to the other side where a rope bridge accessed the second balcony on the second tree. This balcony also had a bell that could be rung and a speaking tube that connected to the ground below where a large tire swing hung from the side of the huge oak tree. It also had a four-sided-rope ladder that accessed a second level with a large slide that would bring one safely to the ground. If the slide didn't interest, one could climb into the huge net tunnel that went across into the third oak tree onto a small wooden landing with a bird feeder and a trapdoor with a spiral staircase leading to the ground. Underneath the ten foot platform were monkey bars to hang from or to hurry across.

"Wow," Harry said, his eyes wide as he stared at it.

"Holy shit, Sirius," Remus said, his eyes equally as wide. "This is bloody brilliant!"

Sirius grinned widely as he put his son on the ground and knelt down next to him. "Should we go inside, Prongslet?"

Harry nodded, his eyes still wide. Sirius led him over to the spiral staircase and they climbed up to the first level and into the treehouse itself. Harry simply stared in awe as Sirius pointed out all of the things that the treehouse provided. Remus was grinning like a kid behind him as he looked around.

"Padfoot, this is seriously wicked, mate, you did amazing!"

Sirius grinned. "Thanks." He was watching Harry though. He was still quiet as he looked around. "Harry, what do you think? Do you like it?"

Harry simply ran to his godfather, wrapping his arms tightly around his waist. "This is the best thing in the whole world! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Sirius grinned, hugging Harry. "See, Marauder can come up the stairs and we can invite your friends over to come play with you in it. And I thought tonight, me, you, and Uncle Moony can have a sleepover in your new treehouse?"

Harry grinned widely. "Really?"

"If you'd like," Sirius said as Harry nodded eagerly, jumping up and down in excitement.

"Uncle Padfoot, this is the best!"

Sirius couldn't stop smiling as he watched Harry enthusiastically run around: First, finding the pirate ship, then running through the net tunnel, then climbing the four-sided-rope-ladder, then taking the slide down, and climbing the wall on the side.

It was the greatest treehouse fort ever and Sirius couldn't wait to camp out in it with his godson and best friend.

He had done well, he thought. Score one for the godfather, he thought grinning. It was going to be a good night.